NEWS

Ceremony honors, remembers transgender victims of violence

Group: 238 transgendered people worldwide were homicide victims since last year

Updated: 10:00 PM CST Nov 20, 2013

Advertisement

Advertisement

Share

Copy Link

{copyShortcut} to copy
Link copied!

A ceremony at the J.C. Nichols Fountain in Kansas City marked the annual observation of Transgender Day of Remembrance, turning attention to the number of transgender victims of violence in the U.S. and around the world.

Ceremony honors, remembers transgender victims of violence

Group: 238 transgendered people worldwide were homicide victims since last year

Updated: 10:00 PM CST Nov 20, 2013

Share

Copy Link

{copyShortcut} to copy
Link copied!

KANSAS CITY, Mo. —

Lights surrounded the J.C. Nichols Fountain near the Country Club Plaza Wednesday to send a message in a fight against hate.

Advertisement

A crowd gathered to light candles and remember those people in the transgender community who have been slain around the world.

Equality Kansas was among the groups taking part in the Transgender Day of Remembrance event.

The group said that in the last year, there have been an additional 238 victims around the world in 20 countries, many in Brazil and Mexico. The group said there were 16 victims in the United States.

Experts said the reality of the problem is that no one really knows how many victims there are, because in many countries, the crimes go unreported.

"It's not even widely reported here in the U.S.," said one of the participants at the event. "You have to go to small gay magazines to find out there was a transgendered person brutally murdered, so it's very important for us to have this day, just to remember and provide visibility. Not only to provide closure to use, but to bring visibility to the problem."

The Transgender Day of Remembrance started in the United States in 1999. It has since evolved into an international vigil.